Flexible friction drive for generators and the like



. K- R. MANVILLE FLEXIBLE FRICTION DRIVE FOR GENERATORS AND THE LIKE IAug. 19 1924..

mm: Jan. 17; 1923 avwewtoz Patented "Aug. ,19, 1924. a r

UNITED STATES ,4 PATENT OFFICE.

finxccn n. MANVILLE, or nao oxnrn, NEW xonx, -"ASSIGNOR TO INTERNATIONALmoron COMPANY, or NEW YORK, N. Y.,-A CORPORATION or'nnnawann.

'rLExmLnrmcTIoN nmv'e FOR GENERATORS AND Application filed January 17,1923.. Serial No, 613,117.

Be" it known that I, KEITH R:

- a citizen ofthefUnited States, residingin the borough or Brooklyn ofthe city of New York,- ;in the State of New'York, have invented" certainnew and useful Improvements in Flexible Friction Drives forGenerators'andthe likefof which the following is.

a specificatioml'reference being had to the accompanying drawings,forming a part hereof.

. This invention relates to" a simple and efii- Xcient drlving'connectionl betweenshaftrsectio'n's whereby a degree of slippage- 1'saffordedto protect the'sections against overload at the time of suddenchanges in speed of I the other section and to afford'through itsinherent construction capacity for universal movement of limited-extentbetween the shaft sections; In one'of its most practical applicationsthe connection may be interposed in the drivefor the generator of aninternal combustion engine in which case it is interposed. at some.point, between the,

crank shaft of the motor and the armature ofthe generator. Suddenchanges in speed ofthe crank shaft of an internalcombustion' motor areVery frequent and-thegreat inertia of the armature of the generator,prevents this unit from readily adapting itself to such abrupt changesin speed with a result that there is always'present the danger ofbreakage or distortion of some of the connected parts and the connectedparts have to be designed of sufficient strength to take care of suchoverloads. In accordance with the present invention it is'proposed toprovide driving friction disk carried by one of the shaft sections andadapted to be frictionally engaged with the other shaft section throughsome form of yieldin presser 'plate.- The friction disk employe is ofsuch form and so disposed between the shaft sections as also providesfor universal movement therewith.

Another feature of the invention consists in the provision of a whollyenclosed connecwhich the parts, are substantially protected agamst' theentry of foreign""matter.' The lnvention will be described in. greaterpart1cular1ty with reference to the illustrated embodiments in theaccompanying drawings wherein:-

Figure 1 is a view in vertical section tion as and for thepurposesfdes'cribed in ,through a: driving connection between two shaftsections embodying the improvements.

'Bigure 2 is ,a' view partly in e vation andj'partly' in: sectionthrough the connec 'tlQn shownin Figure 1.

Figure 3 1s a fragmentary detail view in section of a modifiedconstruction.

It may be assumed for convenience in this description that the shaftsection a is the drive shaft and the shaft section b the driven shaft,the section a being rotated, for instance, from the crank shaft of aninternal combustion engine and the shaft section b, for instance, beingconnected directly with the armature of the generator for the motor.

Sudden changes'in speed to which the crank shaft of an internalcombustion engine is subjected are cpposedby the relatively greatresistance offered by the generator and it may be said that theoverloads resulting not only tend to injure or break the connected partsbut must be met in the design by giving added strength thereto. In accordance with the present invention provision is made for some degree ofslippage between the shaft sections a and 1) whereby overloads are takencare of in such a way as to eliminate danger of injury. In theembodiment of the-connection illustrated in Figure 1 a flexible frictiondisk 0 is shown as secured. to one of the shaftsections b and this diskis frictionally engaged with the other shaft section a through engagingfaces of relatively large superficial bearing area, including the faceof a presser plate d which is normally held yieldingl'y against the diskc.as by springs e. The shaft SBC\- tion a may have secured thereon acircular coupling plate f in which are disposed the springse in desirednumber andrelation to press the plate 03 against one side of thefriction disk 0. These springs'c may be seated in recesses 7 formed inthe face of the circular coupling plate f. This plate f may also be usedto carry guide studs 9 of any desired number and disposition which maybe threaded through the plate and be formed with plain ends 9 adapted to.rest in open to back up the friction disk and serve as a seat thereforagainst the pressure pf the presser plate 03 on its opposite face. The

cap it may be finally locked in desired relation to the other partsdescribed by means of set screws z passing therethrough mto the circularplate f .and these set screws, if de sired, may serve the additionalfunction of.

locking the guide studs 9 in predetermined position.

The action and advantages of the mproved connection will now bedescribed: in the initial assembly the circular plate f Wlll first besecured on the shaft a as by the splines V 70 and locknut Z with theguide studsg turned" in to approximately the desired extent; The cap itmay then be passed onto the shaft b and the friction disk a securedthereto 'as by.

any suitable devices including a locknutm. With the springs e in theirpockets and the presser plate d in proper relation to the fric-itiondisk c the cap h-may be threaded onto the circular plate f untilthedesired degree of friction is obtained between the disk 0 and itsseat 72. as determined by the pressure of the sprin V guide stu s 9 mayalso be adjusted to meet the conditions of assembly so that'the plate dis guided properly in its movements and the set screws 2' may then beturned in to lock the studs g, respectively, and also lock the cap h.During this process of assembling it will be understood that theflexible friction disk 0 affords a suflicient degree of universalmovement to facilitate the assembly andthat with the relation of partsdescribed the same degree of universal movement as between. the shafts(1,12, will'be af{ forded in use by this disk. Further, the part-s whenfinally united constitute a completely enclosed housing for the plate,(I and the springs e and'exclude foreign matter from metrical with theseat h so that the periph ery of the slippage disk 0 may twist withrespect to its axis. Further, this construction taking into account theengagement of the presser plate d with the guide studs 9 e on thepresserplate d. The

also provides for the'transmissiofi of driving force from the shaftathrough both the preilsser plate (5 and the backing seat ah.transmission of power is therefore-eflicient and certain being. effectedthrough bearing faces of relatively large superficial area and yet thenecessary degree of slippage is pernitted in case of overload.

In the modified construction shownin Figure 3 similarpartsarelemployedexcept that the guide studs G forthe presser plate D passthrough the recesses F. for the springs 0" E and aredisposedconcentrically! with re.- spect to saidspring's;:respectively.Otherwise, the same action 'and advantages heretofore noted.aretre'alizedz -Changes in details .of' construction and matters, ofdesign. and arrangement may. be made by one skilled in the art withoutde part ng from the spirit ,of the invention provided the objects of theinvention are realined by. cally.

What I claim is:

evices ,which are .'equivalent.mechani-- '1. A 'coupling of thecharacter. described including a circular coupling plate carried on.

one shaft, a flexible disk carried on the other shaft, aecoupling cap.having a flange constituting a seat .for the flexible disk and adaptedtov be threaded onto the circular .couplingplate, the cap and couplingplate 2. A couplingvof the character described including acircularcoupling plate carried on one shaft, a flexible disk carried onthe other shaft, a coupling cap having a flange 'con- 'stituting a seatfor the flexible disk and adaptedto be threaded onto the circularcoupling plate, thecap and coupling plate constituting an enclosedhousing, a presser plate disposed within the housing thus formed tomaintain the friction diskon'its seat, springs disposed within saidhousing to co-operate with the presser plate, adjustable guide studspassing through the circular coupling plate and co-operating with thepresser plate to guide it in its movements and set screws to lock thecap in predetermined position and also look the guide studs,

respectively.

This specification signed this 15th day of I "January, A. D. 1928.

KEITH R. MANVKLLE.

